Challah [to impress your friends]
Challah Round Braid (with ingredients from your pantry)
Equipment
- 1 stand mixer
- 1 bowl
- 1 baking sheet
- 1 food scale
- 1 basting brush silicone
Ingredients
- 4 cups unbleached bread flour I prefer king arthur baking co. flour
- 1 tbsp dry active yeast
- 2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1/4 cup olive oil extra virgin
- 1/4 cup honey organic, raw
- 4 eggs
Instructions
- Gather Ingredients.
- In the bowl of the stand mixer, add 3/4 cup warm water and 1 TBSP active dry yeast. Wait 3-5 minutes until foamy. Add 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup honey. Mix until well combined.
- Next add 4 cups flour, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 3 of the eggs. Leave one remaining egg for the egg wash on top of the loaf.
- Using dough hook, mix on low to medium speed 5-7 minutes until a wet, loose dough is formed.
- With wet or flour dusted hands, form the dough into a loose ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm space until doubled in size (2-3 hours)
- Once doubled in size, take dough out of bowl and cut into 4 even pieces. Personally, I weigh my pieces to ensure uniformity. They should each weigh approximately 266 grams. This is important for the braid. Shape the pieces into 4 long strands (approximately 18 inches in length). The dough will deflate. This is okay.
- Follow pictures shown to weave dough into a round braid, tucking the ends underneath the loaf. Place on parchment paper-lined baking sheet and allow loaf to rise an additional hour or so.
- preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prepare egg wash by beating egg in a small bowl until the egg white and egg yolk are indistinguishable. Brush a thin layer of egg mixture onto the dough using a basting brush.
- bake loaf at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes. Personally, I like to brush more egg wash onto the loaf at the 25 minute mark for extra shininess on the crust.
- Allow to cool for 2 hours prior to slicing (but good luck waiting that long!)
Notes
Note: rapid rise may be used, but rise time will be shorter and flavor slightly less developed.